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Barsoom #4-7
The Collected John Carter of Mars: Volume Two
Book Two of the John Carter of Mars collections, this edition contains the original text from the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh of Edgar Rice Burrough's world-famous novels. Originally published between 1916 and 1930, Thuvia, Maid of Mars; The Chessmen of Mars; The Master Mind of Mars; and A Fighting Man of Mars are science fiction classics which introduce new characters and adventures to the dangerous martian landscape.
963 pages, Paperback
Published February 7, 2012
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About the author
Edgar Rice Burroughs
2,785 books2,735 followersEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 16, 2017
THUVIA, MAID OF MARS
Differs from earlier Barsoom books in two respects: 1) It stars John Carter's son, and J.C. himself is reduced to a mere cameo. 2) It's written in first- rather than third-person.
The first of these differences makes virtually no impact on the story, since there is almost no difference between John Carter and his son, apart from their names. In fact, I think the primary reason Burroughs switched characters was so he could recycle plot points from the previous books without being too obvious about it. But I liked the switch to third-person narrative, because it stopped making you feel like the main character was bragging about himself all the time. Of course, John Carter never intended to boast; but rather to simply inform you of the cold, hard fact of his incredible awesomeness.
One other interesting thing about this book is that it's the first Burroughs novel I've read that doesn't get worse as it progresses. I actually found THUVIA, MAID OF MARS to be most intriguing during the middle section, when readers are introduced to the competing factions of "realists" and "etherealists." For a Barsoom novel, that's as deep as you're likely to get.
THE CHESSMEN OF MARS
Burroughs was actually a very diverse storyteller, though that's certainly not the impression you'd get from reading the JOHN CARTER series. It's a little shocking how often Burroughs recycled the same basic storyline: beautiful princess is captured by a previously unknown alien race, dashing hero falls in love with her at first sight, hero rushes to save her, hero is captured, hero escapes, princess melts in his arms, the calvary arrives just in the nick of time, the end. THE CHESSMEN OF MARS repeats this same tired formula not just once, but twice! (And that's nothing compared to LLANA OF GATHOL, which manages to repeat it three times.)
I was especially looking forward to THE CHESSMEN OF MARS, in hopes that maybe Burroughs would portray Tara (John Carter's daughter) as a strong female character in the vein of Red Sonja or Xena, Warrior Princess. Alas, no such luck. Tara is a spoiled, selfish little brat who, like all the other women in these stories, needs to be rescued from danger once every three pages or so. The focus of the novel is arguably more centered on her love interest: a man who is virtually identical to John Carter in every possible respect, except that he can't jump as high.
It's tempting to say that, if you've read one JOHN CATER novel, you've read them all. But that isn't quite true. The one thing that keeps this series interesting is the various alien civilizations constantly being discovered. (How all these civilizations could have gone unnoticed for so long completely boggles the mind, especially considering that the people of Helium are in possession of aircraft. Obviously, Mars never produced its own version of Lewis and Clark.) Each alien race has its own unique characteristics, and it is this alone that makes these books still worth reading at this point. For example, THE CHESSMEN OF MARS features a race of intellectuals with detachable heads who feast on living flesh and possess mind control abilities. Sounds pretty cool, right? And there's another race whose version of the Roman games reminds me of the 90's computer game BATTLE CHESS, only a lot bloodier. (Actually, it's more similar to the PS3's BATTLE vs CHESS, since that game utilizes actual characters rather than chess pieces, and the battles don't always result in fixed outcomes.) Of course, the people of Mars play "jetan" rather than chess, so the whole title of the book is something of a misnomer.
I guess maybe THE JETANMEN OF MARS just didn't have the same ring to it.
THE MASTER MIND OF MARS
Sure, all the BARSOOM books are pretty dumb...but THE MASTER MIND OF MARS is stoopid with two o's. Burroughs takes an excitingly macabre premise (I got chills at the thought of someone grafting half a human brain onto half an animal brain) and then wastes it on a dopey plot that is both boring and as far removed from reality as one can get. Poor character development resulted in my having a hard time keeping straight the identities of the hero's sidekicks, and the romantic element is childish even by John Carter standards.
A FIGHTING MAN OF MARS
After the irritating chore that was THE MASTER MIND OF MARS, I swore off the Barsoom books for a while. Now, one year later, I've just finished A FIGHTING MAN OF MARS, and I can say it's a marked improvement.
Although FIGHTING MAN is very nearly as dumb as MASTER MIND, at least it recaptures the sense of fun missing from the previous installment. The book may be total bull$%*&, but at least it's entertaining bull&%*&.
As with several books in this series, Burroughs introduces a new main character so he can trick us into overlooking the fact he is rehashing the same tired old story line again and again. With the exception of giant spiders and some crazy new weaponry, there is nothing here that Burroughs hasn't explored countless times before. The only difference is the frequency with which Burroughs trots out the usual cliches. Our hero saves not one, but TWO princesses! Escapes from not one, but THREE prison cells! He goes up against TWO evil jeddaks AND a mad scientist! He gets ahold of not one, but TWO kinds of mind-blowing technology! He rescues his awesome sidekick not once, but TWICE! He gets marooned in the middle of nowhere TWICE! And of course, he explores an abandoned city, discovers a lost culture, battles monsters, engages in an airship battle, finds true love, saves the day, yadda-yadda-yadda.
As usual, the plot moves from one astounding coincidence to another, culminating in a scene where the hero accidentally stumbles across an invisible airship moments before he is captured by cannibals. What a lucky break!
I can't think of any specific reason to recommend FIGHTING MAN OF MARS, yet I found it a pleasant enough distraction while drinking my morning coffee and killing time during lunch. It's the very definition of "pure escapism," and definitely a guilty pleasure for anyone trying to pass themselves off as sophisticated.
Differs from earlier Barsoom books in two respects: 1) It stars John Carter's son, and J.C. himself is reduced to a mere cameo. 2) It's written in first- rather than third-person.
The first of these differences makes virtually no impact on the story, since there is almost no difference between John Carter and his son, apart from their names. In fact, I think the primary reason Burroughs switched characters was so he could recycle plot points from the previous books without being too obvious about it. But I liked the switch to third-person narrative, because it stopped making you feel like the main character was bragging about himself all the time. Of course, John Carter never intended to boast; but rather to simply inform you of the cold, hard fact of his incredible awesomeness.
One other interesting thing about this book is that it's the first Burroughs novel I've read that doesn't get worse as it progresses. I actually found THUVIA, MAID OF MARS to be most intriguing during the middle section, when readers are introduced to the competing factions of "realists" and "etherealists." For a Barsoom novel, that's as deep as you're likely to get.
THE CHESSMEN OF MARS
Burroughs was actually a very diverse storyteller, though that's certainly not the impression you'd get from reading the JOHN CARTER series. It's a little shocking how often Burroughs recycled the same basic storyline: beautiful princess is captured by a previously unknown alien race, dashing hero falls in love with her at first sight, hero rushes to save her, hero is captured, hero escapes, princess melts in his arms, the calvary arrives just in the nick of time, the end. THE CHESSMEN OF MARS repeats this same tired formula not just once, but twice! (And that's nothing compared to LLANA OF GATHOL, which manages to repeat it three times.)
I was especially looking forward to THE CHESSMEN OF MARS, in hopes that maybe Burroughs would portray Tara (John Carter's daughter) as a strong female character in the vein of Red Sonja or Xena, Warrior Princess. Alas, no such luck. Tara is a spoiled, selfish little brat who, like all the other women in these stories, needs to be rescued from danger once every three pages or so. The focus of the novel is arguably more centered on her love interest: a man who is virtually identical to John Carter in every possible respect, except that he can't jump as high.
It's tempting to say that, if you've read one JOHN CATER novel, you've read them all. But that isn't quite true. The one thing that keeps this series interesting is the various alien civilizations constantly being discovered. (How all these civilizations could have gone unnoticed for so long completely boggles the mind, especially considering that the people of Helium are in possession of aircraft. Obviously, Mars never produced its own version of Lewis and Clark.) Each alien race has its own unique characteristics, and it is this alone that makes these books still worth reading at this point. For example, THE CHESSMEN OF MARS features a race of intellectuals with detachable heads who feast on living flesh and possess mind control abilities. Sounds pretty cool, right? And there's another race whose version of the Roman games reminds me of the 90's computer game BATTLE CHESS, only a lot bloodier. (Actually, it's more similar to the PS3's BATTLE vs CHESS, since that game utilizes actual characters rather than chess pieces, and the battles don't always result in fixed outcomes.) Of course, the people of Mars play "jetan" rather than chess, so the whole title of the book is something of a misnomer.
I guess maybe THE JETANMEN OF MARS just didn't have the same ring to it.
THE MASTER MIND OF MARS
Sure, all the BARSOOM books are pretty dumb...but THE MASTER MIND OF MARS is stoopid with two o's. Burroughs takes an excitingly macabre premise (I got chills at the thought of someone grafting half a human brain onto half an animal brain) and then wastes it on a dopey plot that is both boring and as far removed from reality as one can get. Poor character development resulted in my having a hard time keeping straight the identities of the hero's sidekicks, and the romantic element is childish even by John Carter standards.
A FIGHTING MAN OF MARS
After the irritating chore that was THE MASTER MIND OF MARS, I swore off the Barsoom books for a while. Now, one year later, I've just finished A FIGHTING MAN OF MARS, and I can say it's a marked improvement.
Although FIGHTING MAN is very nearly as dumb as MASTER MIND, at least it recaptures the sense of fun missing from the previous installment. The book may be total bull$%*&, but at least it's entertaining bull&%*&.
As with several books in this series, Burroughs introduces a new main character so he can trick us into overlooking the fact he is rehashing the same tired old story line again and again. With the exception of giant spiders and some crazy new weaponry, there is nothing here that Burroughs hasn't explored countless times before. The only difference is the frequency with which Burroughs trots out the usual cliches. Our hero saves not one, but TWO princesses! Escapes from not one, but THREE prison cells! He goes up against TWO evil jeddaks AND a mad scientist! He gets ahold of not one, but TWO kinds of mind-blowing technology! He rescues his awesome sidekick not once, but TWICE! He gets marooned in the middle of nowhere TWICE! And of course, he explores an abandoned city, discovers a lost culture, battles monsters, engages in an airship battle, finds true love, saves the day, yadda-yadda-yadda.
As usual, the plot moves from one astounding coincidence to another, culminating in a scene where the hero accidentally stumbles across an invisible airship moments before he is captured by cannibals. What a lucky break!
I can't think of any specific reason to recommend FIGHTING MAN OF MARS, yet I found it a pleasant enough distraction while drinking my morning coffee and killing time during lunch. It's the very definition of "pure escapism," and definitely a guilty pleasure for anyone trying to pass themselves off as sophisticated.
May 8, 2024
I enjoyed all the stories! It was a change of pace reading from different characters' points of view while keeping John Carter in mind. I wish John was a part of the storyline more. But all his characteristics came alive through the characters used in the books. But overall, it was nice to dive deeper into the world of barsoom. A lot of world building and new locations are explored by the characters. Reading all the stories in this collection made me realize how massive barsoom was. I'd love to reread these in the future. The reason I gave a four out of five is the fact that all these stories are amazing! Don't get me wrong but in one way or another they keep to the john carter script way of doing things.(like saving the girl/saving the day/happy ending) because in a way John Carter went through all these adventures in the previous books, but now they are experienced through the characters that are not John Carter. I wish John was a part of the stories more with a different kind of goal in mind for the storyline. (It would be badass to see John fighting side by side with the characters)my only gripe was that the author kept to the same storytelling and didn't shake up the storyline more, but it was balanced out by all the world building and new places mentioned. But nonetheless, I enjoyed all the books in this collection, and they are worth the read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2022
Overall, a great collection. The last book A Fighting Man of Mars was the best. The females lead was different from other females of Burroughs has written about very refreshing.
May 31, 2023
Awesome Story - Awesome Author
I have been impressed with Burroughs’ work for many years. He never fails to impress me with his inspired and exciting ways of telling stories.
I have been impressed with Burroughs’ work for many years. He never fails to impress me with his inspired and exciting ways of telling stories.
Want to read
May 9, 2013Chessmen- Chapter 8
July 30, 2013
Science fiction classics from the 1920-30's. More swashbuckling adventures on Mars. A little predictable for the modern reader (save the princess, escape, lots of sword-play) but fun to read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews